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POLICE BRIEFS: Suspected vehicle arsonist tracked down by K-9

Just after midnight on June 1, Jacksonville Beach police responded to the reported arson of two cars in the 3300 block of America Avenue.

A 2005 gray Kia and a 1999 Chevy truck were found engulfed in flames. Three fire extinguishers eventually put out the fire. A witness at the scene told police that she was driving by when she noticed the fire and a man dressed in red clothing holding a red plastic gas can. Reportedly, a trail of fire led from the cars to the man, who began walking into a nearby yard.

A K-9 unit performed a track that led to a Republic Drive residence where the man was found outside holding two cigarettes. The man, a 26-year-old, agreed to let police search his home. A red shirt smelling of gasoline was found in a room. At this point, the man claimed to have an epileptic episode. He was taken to Beaches Baptist Medical Center where he was medically cleared.

Eventually, the man agreed to talk to police; he claimed not to know anything about the fire and denied starting it because “people could get hurt.” He was arrested on suspicion of arson and booked at the Duval County Jail.

ATLANTIC BEACH

■ Officers responded to a shoplifting case at the Mayport Road Kangaroo gas station on May 26 at 2:35 a.m. An employee said that three males had been in the store, and one of them — a 31-year-old Jacksonville man — placed a white towel or T-shirt over his head, and took an $8 bottle of wine outside without paying for it.

According to the clerk, the man then drank the wine while looking through a window at her while she spoke with police dispatch over the phone. After she hung up, the man reentered the store and reportedly told her, “It’s not worth your life … just collect your paycheck.” The clerk said he was grabbing at something in his waistband as he said this. Eventually, his friends steered him away from the counter.

The man was located by police in between gas pumps with the open bottle a short distance away on the curb. While he was read his rights, the man said he was drunk and “wanted to speak with the clerk to apologize.”

■ Two men were arrested on May 24 at 7:15 p.m. for drug possession after a routine traffic stop. An officer pulled over a black Nissan Versa when he noticed a man driving without a seatbelt in the 700 block of Atlantic Boulevard. The vehicle was stopped on Royal Palms Drive. As officers approached the car, both claimed to smell marijuana. Three men were ordered out of the car and one of them, a 21-year-old Atlantic Beach man, allegedly gave officers permission to search his person for the drug. The man then said that the marijuana was in his underwear; he was put into a patrol car and asked to retrieve the marijuana. He provided police with 14 grams of marijuana in a plastic bag. Another passenger in the car was in possession of hashish oil. Both men were charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and were transported to the Duval County Jail. The collected marijuana was entered into evidence.

■ On May 15 at 12:06 a.m., an officer sitting at First and Eastcoast streets pulled over a black Mercedes Benz after the driver ran the stop sign at the intersection. The driver, a 42-year-old Ponte Vedra Beach woman, was stopped on Atlantic Boulevard and gave officers an expired registration. The woman said the reason she failed to stop was because she wasn’t familiar with the area. When asked, she admitted to drinking earlier in the night. A DUI investigation began, and the woman refused sobriety tests and asked for her attorney, claiming that’s what her husband would want her to do. She was arrested for driving under the influence and taken to the county jail.

NEPTUNE BEACH

■ A 59-year-old Neptune Beach veteran who was staying in a Gainesville V.A. hospital returned to his Hamlet Court home on June 2 to find his 2010 burgundy Nissan Altima missing. The man said his son drove him to the hospital in the car three weeks ago, returning the car to the house and putting the keys inside the home. The man also said that another son took the car two weeks ago to let a friend from Georgia borrow it. However, the son was arrested on an unknown charge and the car still wasn’t returned.

According to the man, he never granted permission to his son to lend his car. The car was entered as stolen into the National Crime Information Center and the Florida Crime Information Center.

■ A 51-year-old Jacksonville Beach man was found screaming racial slurs and falling in the sand on the 800 block of the beach proper on May 31 at 8:19 p.m. Witnesses told police that the man was also throwing his clothes into the surf. He was arrested for disorderly intoxication and taken to the Duval County Jail.

■ Two transients in Neptune Beach reported being burglarized while they slept at a beachfront Margaret Street property on May 31. The two said that they went to sleep at 1 a.m. with a tote bag placed near their heads, and when they woke at 6 a.m., the bag was missing. Social Security and identification cards, $75 in cash and seven-day bus passes were among the stolen items. No suspects were named, and the case was suspended.

■ On May 29 at 11:42 a.m., a follow-up investigation was conducted concerning two motorcycles recently stolen out of Keystone Heights that were believed to have made their way into Jacksonville. Through a Craigslist posting, police located what they thought to be one of the stolen motorcycles — a 2007 Yamaha — at a Cherry Street residence. The man at the residence allowed police to inspect motorcycles in his garage. The Yamaha was found, and the bike’s VIN confirmed that it was stolen.

The man said he purchased the bike on May 24 in Arlington after he saw a Craigslist ad for it. He didn’t realize that the bike was stolen.

The motorcycle was recovered and transferred to the police station. No crimes were determined to have been committed in Neptune Beach.

■ A 28-year-old Neptune Beach man recently released from a nine-month jail sentence came home on May 28 to find his roommate evicted from their rental home and all of his belongings stolen. The man also discovered that someone had been making ATM withdrawals using his debit card without permission from August to December 2013, while he was serving his sentence.

A friend of the man said that she was supposed to come by in August 2013 to collect the man’s items for storage after he turned himself in, but the man’s roommate refused to let her into the house. The man’s belongings included a wallet and motorcycle. The landlord at his old residence said that he assumed the man’s belongings were taken when the roommate moved out.

Surveillance footage has been requested from the Neptune Beach Bank of America ATM. An investigation is ongoing.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH

■ A burglary in progress was reported from a boat docked at Beach Marine at 2315 Beach Boulevard on May 31 at 9:38 p.m. A husband and wife were on board below deck when they saw a man dressed in a white shirt and dark pants and carrying an orange backpack exit their vessel and continue walking through the marina. The wife said that the man boarded another boat a few slips down before coming back to their boat and walking around the deck for a second time.

Officers found a man matching the couple’s description in the marina. He was detained while the couple made a positive identification. The man was charged with burglary and taken to the county jail. No items were discovered missing from the boat.

■ After police received a missing person report from a mother concerned that her daughter hadn’t come home or responded to phone calls, the 18-year-old woman was found behind a business in the 100 block of Fifth Avenue North on June 2 at 2:27 a.m. The woman pointed to a nearby two-story house and said she had been drinking there with a 23-year-old Jacksonville Beach man.

Two officers knocked on the door, and the man answered. Police smelled marijuana and saw a jar containing what appeared to be marijuana sitting on a countertop. The man was arrested and driven to the Duval County Jail. The total amount of marijuana collected weighed 15.6 grams.

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